On The Right to Food
The United States is one of the few countries in the world that does not guarantee the right to food. In the wake of the widespread food insecurity and economic upheaval caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, a number of states around the US are using legislation to remedy that, following a global trend towards greater food sovereignty and justice in the food system.
Over 81 million Americans faced food insecurity the week before Christmas 2020, or nearly 1 in 4 people. Food insecurity in the US is also highly racialized, with 29% of Black families and 25% of Latin families having faced food insecurity, and up to 14% of whites. The approval of multiple stimulus packages, the expansion of SNAP benefits and the long term availability of free school lunch and pandemic EBT did much to alleviate food insecurity for the time being. But structural issues such as income and wealth inequality, stagnant unionization rates, gentrification, displacement and uneven urban and rural infrastructure development will continue to be prevalent and impact food insecurity even as the economy recovers.
Globally, the right to food is a legally binding human right in international law, enshrined in article 11 of the United Nation’s International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in 1966. Over 171 countries have ratified the ICESCR and 30 countries even recognize the right to food in their constitutions. While the U.S. signed the treaty in 1977, it has not been ratified or legislated federally, so there is plenty of room for improvement. Contrast this with Brazil, whose operationalization of the Human Right to Adequate Food, through governmental agencies and extensive collaboration between institutional purchasers and local producers, has reduced extreme hunger rates from 25% to 3.5% since 1990. The Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte established a Secretariat of Food Security that runs over 20 programs that directly impact a third of Belo Horizonte’s 2.5 million citizens. The agency oversaw dramatic decreases in diabetes, infant malnutrition, and infant mortality as well as increases in fruit and vegetable consumption, creating a sustainable model for other urban centers to emulate.
In recent months, two U.S. states have put forward right to food legislation. Maine’s House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed an amendment to the state constitution that would provide “a natural, inherent and unalienable right to food”. Maine’s food insecurity rate is almost 14%, and nearly 28% among people of color, and nearly 1 in 8 Mainer’s lives in poverty. The amendment has found bipartisan support and inspiration among organic farmers and it logically follows Maine’s food sovereignty law that was passed in 2019. The Maine right to food amendment still needs to pass through the Maine Senate and faces scrutiny from the Maine department of agriculture and other sectors.
West Virginia is also considering the right to food. The Right to Food, Food Sovereignty, and Freedom From Hunger Amendment would recognize that West Virginians have a “fundamental right to be free from hunger, malnutrition, starvation and the endangerment of life from the scarcity of or lack of access to nourishing food” and intends “To provide that all people have a natural, inherent and unalienable right to food and have a fundamental right to be free from hunger, malnutrition, starvation and the endangerment of life from the scarcity of or lack of access to nourishing food.” Over 1 in 5 children in West Virginia face food insecurity and sixteen percent of West Virginians live below the poverty line, making it the sixth poorest state in the nation, so there are many residents that could benefit from the legislation.
There is a similar movement afoot in the U.K. in cities such as Newcastle, Liverpool and Manchester, with broad collaboration from municipal governments, faith leader, community groups and trade unions. The U.K. Right to Food campaign revolves around the 4 “A’s”, accountability, accessibility, availability and adequacy. These strategies for achieving the right to food fall in line with similar momentum in the U.S around universalizing school meals, expansion of food stamp or SNAP benefits, community gardening, public food utilities, and purchasing infrastructure for public contracts.
Michael Fakhri is the UN Special Rapoteur on the Right to Food and his perspective is, “The source of the right to food, and all human rights, is the fact that everyone holds an inherent dignity simply because they are alive. Therefore, the right to food includes the right to assert one’s dignity. A threat to people’s right to food is a threat to their very existence and way of life. The right to food can offer people the power they need to rebuild their food system.”
If dignity is the goal, then the right to food dovetails with other major struggles in the food system around paid sick time and compensation, Indigenous land rematriation and debt relief for Black farmers, farmworker organizing and paths to citizenship, as well as worker driven social responsibility in supply chains. Taken together, such movements articulate the potential for a food system that truly guarantees liberty and justice for all.
